


under the mistletoe.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: a dyad in the force (aka all my ben/rey fics) [166]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Amusement Parks, Cold, Cold Weather, Conversations, December writing challenge, F/M, Inspired by Music, Kissing, Mistletoe, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Relationship(s), Secret Relationship, Short One Shot, Tumblr Prompt, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: Four days before Christmas, the local amusement park was hosting a special charity event.  Rey casually mentioned it during one of the Sunday afternoons that the six of them spent together, and the next thing Ben knew, Poe was talking about all the fun and frivolity they could have that night.  If the rest of the group teased him for the next three days about using the word frivolity, well, Ben thought he deserved it.The night of the event came and it was lightly snowing, but not hard enough to cancel it, so Ben bundled up for the frigid night and headed to the amusement park to meet everyone.  Rey was waiting at their designated meeting spot when he arrived, and he smiled as he walked towards her.She really was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.or:  It's charity night at the local amusement park, their group of friends is gathering there, but Ben and Rey have a secret they're keeping from them.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: a dyad in the force (aka all my ben/rey fics) [166]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601755
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34
Collections: December Writing Challenge - 2020





	under the mistletoe.

**Author's Note:**

> december writing challenge day 4. another one I quite like.
> 
> and as always, if you like what you read and you want to see more, then please let me know via a comment or kudos or bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void. enjoy!
> 
> December 4 Prompt: “Hey, look. Mistletoe.” (imaginesandsmut on Tumblr)  
> Title Song: Under the Mistletoe by Kelly Clarkson & Brett Eldredge

Four days before Christmas, the local amusement park was hosting a special charity event. Rey casually mentioned it during one of the Sunday afternoons that the six of them spent together, and the next thing Ben knew, Poe was talking about all the fun and frivolity they could have that night. If the rest of the group teased him for the next three days about using the word frivolity, well, Ben thought he deserved it.

The night of the event came and it was lightly snowing, but not hard enough to cancel it, so Ben bundled up for the frigid night and headed to the amusement park to meet everyone. Rey was waiting at their designated meeting spot when he arrived, and he smiled as he walked towards her.

She really was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Hey,” she said as he got closer. “You’re late.”

“I know. There was a big accident near my place and it slowed all the traffic down,” Ben said, looking around. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Already inside because they could not wait,” Rey said, smiling. “So that means you can greet me properly.”

Ben grinned. “Gladly.”

He pulled Rey into his arms and brought their lips together gently, smiling into the kiss when Rey shuddered. “Cold?” he asked when he pulled back.

“A little,” Rey said, letting go of Ben and wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s way too cold to be doing this tonight.”

“Yeah, but you know that Poe never would have let us cancel his night of frivolity.”

Rey burst out laughing. “Oh, can we please refer to tonight as that all night?”

“Of course we can,” Ben said. “Alright, I need to get a ticket.”

“Got you one already,” Rey said, pulling their tickets out of her pocket. “Zorii bought everyone’s.”

“Then I will remember to thank her,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “Remember, just friends.”

“Just friends,” Rey confirmed. “Now let’s go.”

They went through the turnstiles and into all of the noise. “Where are we supposed to meet everyone?” Ben asked.

“By the bumper cars, because of course, that’s where Finn wanted to go first since he is a child.” Rey shook her head. “Coming here with him is a nightmare because he wants to go on every ride.”

“That’s alright,” Ben said, smiling. “We have a built-in excuse to leave early tonight.”

“And what is that?”

“Cold and snow,” Ben replied. “I’m not staying till the end of this thing, that’s for sure, and I will be happy to give you a ride home since you came with Finn and Rose.”

Rey grinned. “I like the way you think, Solo.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. But first, bumper cars.”

They walked over to the bumper cars to find their four friends at the end of the line, and Rey shook her head. “You haven’t made any progress yet?”

“Oh, we’ve made progress,” Rose said. “This is trip number three through the line.”

“Of course it is,” Ben said, shaking his head. “How about you get out of line and we go ride something that’s made for adults?”

“Fuck off, Ben,” Finn countered back. “This is perfectly fine for adults. Now get in line, asshole.”

“Once,” Rey said. “And then we find a different ride to go on.”

“Deal,” Zorii said, which just made Finn start to protest.

Ben went and stood next to Poe and Rey next to Rose, and as the line moved, they all talked about what they were doing for Christmas. Poe and Zorii were going to the Dameron family celebrations, and Poe was terrified about it because he was bringing Zorii home to meet the family for the first time. Rose and Finn were off to Chicago to spend the holiday with Rose’s sister, and Finn couldn’t wait to see Paige again. Rey told them that she couldn’t afford a ticket back to England to visit her parents so she was going to be by herself, and Ben said that she wouldn’t because he’d be around too. 

Rey told him that he needed to go to his family’s celebrations. Ben said he’d do that when his parents wanted to see reason. Knowing that she’d get nowhere on the subject in front of their friends, she backed off.

They reached the front of the line and got into bumper cars, and by the time that they were climbing out of the cars and exiting the ride, Finn got Ben to admit that it had been fun. 

And then Poe declared that he wanted to go on the amusement park’s signature ride, the Finalizer. Considered one of the biggest rollercoasters in the country, he could not wait for the thrill of it. 

Rey hated rollercoasters. 

“I am not going on that fucking death wish,” she declared. “Especially in a snowstorm.”

“This is hardly a snowstorm, Rey,” Rose said. “But they might not even be letting people ride it because the tracks could be icy.”

“Well, you go find out. I’ll find you later.”

Rey turned around and walked away before another word could be said, and Ben sighed heavily. “You guys go. I’ll talk to her.”

“You sure?” Zorii asked. “You love the Finalizer.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Call me if it’s not open and Rey and I will come find you.” 

Ben walked after Rey before anyone else could say a word, and when he caught up to her, he peered at her in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong is that you have a loving family that is an hour away from here and you won’t even go see them,” Rey said, but Ben knew that wasn’t it. 

“Rey, seriously, what’s wrong?” 

Rey took a deep breath and kept walking silently. Once Ben was sure that they were far enough away from their friends, he reached out and pulled her over underneath a canopy of lights. “What is wrong?”

“I wasn’t lying,” Rey said firmly. “The fact that you won’t so much as talk to them is straight-up bullshit.”

“I don’t expect you to understand,” Ben said, reaching up to adjust his hat. 

“Good because I don’t,” Rey said, shaking her head. “I would give anything to have my parents not to be an ocean away, Ben. And you act like yours don’t exist.”

Ben went to respond when something occurred to him, and it made him groan. “Who talked to you?”

“Your mother and grandmother came into the store. What was I supposed to do, ignore my customers? You know how much the store needs business,” Rey said, her voice softening. “They miss you. They miss you so much. And Leia said that Han is more than aware of the fact that he was wrong and wants to apologize, but every time they try to reach out, you shut the door before a word can be said.”

Ben took a deep breath. “My father has said he’s wrong.”

“According to Leia and Padmé.”

“My father never admits that he’s wrong about anything.”

“Well, he admitted it about this,” Rey said, wrapping her arms around Ben when he just stood there. “I think you should spend Christmas with your family. Let Han apologize to you in person instead of on a phone call.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ben said after a moment. “And you’d be alone.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Rey murmured as Ben’s arms finally came around her. “Go see your family.”

“My father is an asshole.”

“Han did not react well to the fact that you were having trouble finding a job but refusing to go to law school,” Rey replied. “And I know that is an oversimplification of what happened, but it’s also the truth. Leia was quite insistent that Han knows that he fucked up. And they’ve been trying to repair this relationship for almost four years, Ben. It’s time to let it happen. Go home for Christmas.” 

Ben stood there for a few moments before he swallowed hard. “Only if you go with me.”

Rey’s eyes widened. “What?”

“It’s been a great five months, baby,” Ben murmured. “And you know that you’d be lying if you denied that we hadn’t been in love for a long time before that. So, if I’m going to go home for Christmas, I want to bring the love of my life with me.”

Rey felt a grin spread across her face. “Love of your life?”

Ben nodded. “You know you’d be lying again if you said you didn’t already know that.”

“Okay,” Rey said slowly, and Ben knew that he was right. “But what are you going to do about our friends? They will want to know why I went home with you, especially if Leia starts talking about the love of your life.”

“I think we should tell them the truth,” Ben said simply. “We weren’t going to hide for this long, just long enough to make sure it would work. It works and yet we’re still hiding.”

“There’s a thrill to the potential of being caught that we’ll lose,” Rey pointed out. 

“I’m okay with that.”

“You’re being serious, aren’t you?” Rey said after a moment. “You’ll go home if you can take me with you.”

“If my father who never apologizes for anything wants to apologize, then I think he knows that he fucked up. I’m willing to hear him out. Besides, I’ve wanted Mama to know about this for months.”

Rey pulled back and looked at him. “Months?”

“I’ve never blamed Mama for any of this and you know it,” Ben pointed out. “But she was always going to go along with what Dad did, so since I didn’t want to hear from him, then I didn’t want to hear from her. But that didn’t mean that I didn’t miss her.”

“You missed Han too,” Rey said softly, “whether you want to admit that or not.”

Ben took a deep breath and nodded. “Of course I missed him. He’s my father. We were incredibly close before he decided that all of a sudden I was a complete fucking loser because I wasn’t a lawyer like he is.”

Rey glanced up when the snow started falling a little harder, and she smiled. “Hey, look. Mistletoe.”

Ben looked up and laughed. “I didn’t even notice that.”

“Neither did I,” Rey said, “but we must kiss now.”

“Mmm,” Ben murmured. “I think I can do that.”

Rey grinned. “Then kiss me.”

Ben leaned forward and captured Rey’s lips with his own, kissing her deeply. Rey practically melted into his embrace, and she couldn’t help but think that she wanted this for the rest of her life. Ben was thinking about the rest of his life too, and the thought of where he’d stashed the ring came to mind. He’d been planning on asking when they spent Christmas alone together, but maybe asking during the Skywalker celebrations would be a nice idea. He’d have to ask his mother what she thought when he called her.

Because he was going to call her, whether Rey went with him for Christmas or not.

“I’ll go with you,” Rey breathed out once they parted. “It’s not like I’m meeting the parents for the first time.”

Ben grinned. “Perfect.”

He went to kiss her again when his phone rang, and he sighed and reached for it. Seeing it was Poe, he answered it. “Let me guess, the Finalizer is closed.”

“Nope!” Poe exclaimed. “Just calling to tell you that we’re gonna ride it like five more times, so how about we all meet at the churro stand by the Supremacy.”

“Sounds good.”

“How’s Rey? She seemed really upset.”

Ben looked at her and smiled. “Rey’s fine. We’ve talked about it.”

“So you fucked up somehow. Okay.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means we all know that you’re fucking,” Poe said, and then Ben could hear Zorii smack him. “Ow, that hurt.”

A moment later, Zorii came on the phone. “What my idiot boyfriend meant to say was that we have all noticed that your relationship has deepened into something romantic, and we’re all happy for you two.”

Ben laughed. “We were trying to keep it a secret.”

“Haven’t you learned by now that there are no secrets among us?” Zorii said, and Ben could tell she was shaking her head. “Anyone, churro stand in about an hour.”

“Got it. Enjoy the rollercoaster.”

“We will.”

Ben hung up the phone and turned to Rey. “Well, they already know about us.”

Rey laughed loudly. “Why am I not surprised? There are no secrets among us.”

“That’s exactly what Zorii said,” Ben said, taking Rey by the hand. “We’re supposed to meet at the churro stand by the Supremacy.”

“Ooh, the Supremacy,” Rey said. “Now that’s a ride that I’d like to go on.”

“Then let’s go.”

Rey pulled him back as Ben started walking away. “I don’t think we’ve kissed enough under the mistletoe yet.”

Ben grinned. “Then, by all means, let’s rectify that.”

As their lips met, all Ben could think about was how he was going to surprise her. He knew that Rey wouldn’t even be thinking that he would propose this soon. He knew that she’d be there for him for every moment of the Christmas celebrations too, and he was going to be relying upon her more than she knew. His life was starting to come together. It might have taken him until he was almost forty, but it was finally happening. 

It was perfect.

She was perfect.

And he was happy for the first time in at least fifteen years.


End file.
